A review of Hombrecito by Santiago Jose Sanchez

*SPOILER ALERT* This review contains plot details of Hombrecito.

This title was published on June 25, 2024 by Riverhead Books.

Hombrecito is a beautifully written debut fiction novel by Santiago Jose Sanchez that captures the essence of coming of age and explores the multifaceted nature of being queer. Illustrating the complexity of human connection from familial to romantic relationships, the novel follows Santiago as he journeys through various worlds in search of his identity. This journey is centered around displacement after his mother brought him and his brother to Miami from Colombia as children. In this novel, Sanchez captures the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly in a way that forces readers to question what identity means in an intersectional setting.

A perfect example of coming of age, Hombrecito encapsulates the main character’s journey of self. I enjoyed how Sanchez laid out a story where the protagonist grows and experiences new chapters of his life. Santiago’s adolescence is dependent on maintaining his relationship with his family. But, as he matures, this focus changes and his identity becomes dependent on different things like his relationship with men, his home country, and himself. In each section of the novel, we witness a different side of Santiago. At the start, Santiago is a young, scared child trying his best to acclimate to the US on his own. During this section, we see him become more curious about himself and his sexuality. We come to understand the struggles he has with himself and the dark inner workings of his mind. And we watch him go from a shy little boy into somebody willing to seek answers in his own way, learning from mistakes but also understanding what it means to drown in them. This added complexity further builds out Santiago’s intersectionality in the world. It allowed me to care about his journey, and I found myself rooting for him the entire time, wishing him the best, being proud of his accomplishments, and feeling his sadness.

Sanchez also did a great job capturing the immigrant experience and how the connection to one’s homeland can be complicated, often influenced by exterior and interior factors. I was drawn to Hombrecito because it spoke to my own identity and experiences. I, like many others, want to see myself represented in the novels that I read. As someone with many immigrant relatives, including my own father, the various struggles Sanchez writes about like moving to the US at a young age, having a parent who is constantly working, and struggling to learn English, realistically reflects the life of an immigrant. As a result, most of Santiago’s journey centers around the grief he feels about leaving Colombia. With grace, Sanchez discussed what it’s like to feel detached from one’s culture and constantly look to fill that void without resorting to stereotypes or overused tropes. I appreciated how Sanchez discussed the back and forth feeling of not being American enough or Colombian enough. The experiences were authentic and honest and elevated the story.

Without spoiling too much, I loved the ending of Hombrecito. It connected the themes discussed throughout the novel for Santiago’s story to come full circle, but now ending in his mother’s perspective. We see his mother come to terms with who she is, highlighting her immigrant experience, especially as a single, working mother. This ending helped redeem her character and allows readers to create their own impression of her rather than base it entirely on Santiago’s perspective. It showed how any person, at any point, can experience their own coming of age as she attempts to come to her own understanding of who Santiago is. In particular, the ending explores acceptance, growth, regret, and all the beautiful, ugly things that make humans so complicated.

Despite all this, I do wish there were more in-depth moments that explored Santiago’s relationship with his family. The beginning and ending highlighted these relationships, but it felt like conversations were missing or readers weren’t being provided enough context. In the beginning, Hombrecito explores about the complicated relationship Santiago had with his mother and brother, but the building tension wasn’t enough. For example, the transition to Santiago’s eventual no contact with his family could have been more intentional and built-out. I hoped to read more about the conflict that led to Santigo’s decision of no contact, specifically with his brother. That lack of expansion made it feel like Sanchez was rushing through moments that could add further depth.

Additionally, Santiago’s relationship with his father also wasn’t explored enough. When it was discussed, the information about their relationship was haphazardly thrown in without consideration of how it flowed within the story. I would have preferred to see some of those moments happening in real-time rather than presented as quick background information. When conversation did occur between them there wasn’t enough context for me to feel invested in the mending of their relationship. The conversations with his father and his mother, at times, felt underwhelming and I was left desiring more.

Another underwhelming element of Hombrecito was Santiago’s coming out. This novel centers around Santiago’s sexuality and his defiance to social and cultural norms. Since family also plays a big role in the novel it would have been powerful to read how he came out to his parents. This is another example of an important moment thrown in as added context rather than a moment that should have stood on its own. This coming-out scene also would have been a great place to touch on Santiago’s intersectionality as a queer person of color. From experience, many Latinx households often have difficulty accepting queerness and can oftentimes invalidate this aspect of one’s identity.

Despite those elements, Sanchez defies the odd and plays with the emotional heartstrings of readers in this debut. They capture the essence of being human and what it means to be lost and trying to find something solid to grasp. It handles the complicated nature of family and how blood ties people together for life, for better or worse.